30:1
The Mandate of Multiplication and the Speckled Flocks
And when Rachal saw that she bare Ya’aqob no children, Rachal envied her sister; and said unto Ya’aqob, "Give me children, or else I die."
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Barashiyt 30
Barashiyt chapter 30 in the Qadmoni reader. Read the full chapter text with direct verse references and continue into the interactive reader.
Browse Barashiyt chapter index30:2
And Ya’aqob's anger was kindled against Rachal: and he said, "Am I in Alahiym's stead, who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb?"
30:3
And she said, "Behold my maid Bilhah, go in unto her; and she shall bear upon my knees, that I may also have children by her."
30:4
And she gave him Bilhah her handmaid to wife: and Ya’aqob went in unto her.
30:5
And Bilhah conceived, and bare Ya’aqob a son.
30:6
And Rachal said, "Alahiym hath judged me, and hath also heard my voice, and hath given me a son": therefore called she his name Dan.
30:7
And Bilhah Rachal's maid conceived again, and bare Ya’aqob a second son.
30:8
And Rachal said, "With great wrestlings have I wrestled with my sister, and I have prevailed": and she called his name Naphtaliy.
30:9
The Strategy of La'ah and the Giving of Zilpah
When La'ah saw that she had left bearing, she took Zilpah her maid, and gave her Ya’aqob to wife.
30:10
And Zilpah La'ah's maid bare Ya’aqob a son.
30:11
And La'ah said, "A troop cometh": and she called his name Gad.
30:12
And Zilpah La'ah's maid bare Ya’aqob a second son.
30:13
And La'ah said, "Happy am I, for the daughters will call me blessed": and she called his name Ashar.
30:14
The Mandrakes and the Restoration of La'ah’s Womb
And Ra'uban went in the days of wheat harvest, and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them unto his mother La'ah. Then Rachal said to La'ah, "Give me, I pray thee, of thy son's mandrakes."
30:15
And she said unto her, "Is it a small matter that thou hast taken my husband? and wouldest thou take away my son's mandrakes also?" And Rachal said, "Therefore he shall lie with thee to night for thy son's mandrakes."
30:16
And Ya’aqob came out of the field in the evening, and La'ah went out to meet him, and said, "Thou must come in unto me; for surely I have hired thee with my son's mandrakes." And he lay with her that night.
30:17
And Alahiym hearkened unto La'ah, and she conceived, and bare Ya’aqob the fifth son.
30:18
And La'ah said, "Alahiym hath given me my hire, because I have given my maiden to my husband": and she called his name Yissakar.
30:19
And La'ah conceived again, and bare Ya’aqob the sixth son.
30:20
And La'ah said, "Alahiym hath endued me with a good dowry; now will my husband dwell with me, because I have born him six sons": and she called his name Zabalun.
30:21
And afterwards she bare a daughter, and called her name Dinah.
30:22
The Remembrance of Rachal and the Birth of Yusaph
And Alahiym remembered Rachal, and Alahiym hearkened to her, and opened her womb.
30:23
And she conceived, and bare a son; and said, "Alahiym hath taken away my reproach":
30:24
And she called his name Yusaph; and said, "𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 shall add to me another son."
30:25
The Wages of Ya’aqob and the Speckled Flocks
And it came to pass, when Rachal had born Yusaph, that Ya’aqob said unto Laban, "Send me away, that I may go unto mine own place, and to my country.
30:26
Give me my wives and my children, for whom I have served thee, and let me go: for thou knowest my service which I have done thee."
30:27
And Laban said unto him, "I pray thee, if I have found favour in thine eyes, tarry: for I have learned by experience that 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 hath blessed me for thy sake."
30:28
And he said, "Appoint me thy wages, and I will give it."
30:29
And he said unto him, "Thou knowest how I have served thee, and how thy cattle was with me.
30:30
For it was little which thou hadst before I came, and it is now increased unto a multitude; and 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 hath blessed thee since my coming: and now when shall I provide for mine own house also?"
30:31
And he said, "What shall I give thee?" And Ya’aqob said, "Thou shalt not give me any thing: if thou wilt do this thing for me, I will again feed and keep thy flock.
30:32
I will pass through all thy flock to day, removing from thence all the speckled and spotted cattle, and all the brown cattle among the sheep, and the spotted and speckled among the goats: and of such shall be my hire.
30:33
So shall my righteousness answer for me in time to come."
30:34
The Peeled Rods and the Resonance of the Flocks
And Laban said, "Behold, I would it might be according to thy word."
30:35
And he removed that day the he goats that were ringstraked and spotted, and all the she goats that were speckled and spotted, and every one that had some white in it, and all the brown among the sheep, and gave them into the hand of his sons.
30:36
And he set three days' journey betwixt himself and Ya’aqob: and Ya’aqob fed the rest of Laban's flocks.
30:37
And Ya’aqob took him rods of green poplar, and of the hazel and chesnut tree; and pilled white strakes in them, and made the white appear which was in the rods.
30:38
And he set the rods which he had pilled before the flocks in the gutters in the watering troughs when the flocks came to drink, that they should conceive when they came to drink.
30:39
And the flocks conceived before the rods, and brought forth cattle ringstraked, speckled, and spotted.
30:40
And Ya’aqob did separate the lambs, and set the faces of the flocks toward the ringstraked, and all the brown in the flock of Laban; and he put his own flocks by themselves, and put them not unto Laban's cattle.
30:41
And it came to pass, whensoever the stronger cattle did conceive, that Ya’aqob laid the rods before the eyes of the cattle in the gutters, that they might conceive among the rods.
30:42
But when the cattle were feeble, he put them not in: so the feebler were Laban's, and the stronger Ya’aqob's.
30:43
And the man increased exceedingly, and had much cattle, and maidservants, and menservants, and camels, and asses.